1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of isolating 1,3-propanediol or 1,3-propanediol and 1,2-propanediol from a solution containing 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-propanediol, glycerol, and glucose.
2. Description of the Related Art
1,3-propanediol is also called trimethylene glycol, 1,3-dihydroxypropane or 1,3-propylene glycol and has a molecular weight of 76, a freezing point of −27° C., a boiling point of 210° C. and a viscosity of 1.053 cP. 1,3-propanediol is a light yellow, very sticky, weak acidic, water-miscible liquid. 1,3-propanediol is a primary monomer of polytrimethylene terephthalate (3GT) that is high performance polyester having various applications in clothes, carpet, etc. 1,3-propanediol is a very important intermediate in the production of polyester, polyether and polyurethane.
Many studies on isolation and purification of 1,3-propanediol have been conducted, which revealed several problems due to water-miscibility and similar properties of 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol. U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,473 discloses a method of purifying 1,3-propanediol produced by hydrolysis of acrolein by extracting the diol with cyclohexane. However, since cyclohexane has properties different from a solution containing glucose, glycerol and 1,2-propanediol, it is difficult to apply said method to isolation of 1,3-propanedipl from a fermented medium or other solutions containing glucose, glycerol and 1,2-propanediol.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0133049 discloses a method of recovering 1,3-propanediol from a liquid composition using a cation exchange resin. However, since 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-propanediol, glucose and glycerol do not have an ion exchange property, these cannot be isolated from one another. Thus, said method does not provide sufficiently high purity and yield of 1,3-propanediol.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,992 discloses a method of isolating 1,3-propanediol using a cation exchange resin whose cation is selected from the group consisting of lanthanum, lead, iron, zinc and aluminum. However, cations are materials harmful or dangerous to the human body.
Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0037064 discloses a method of isolating 1,3-propanediol from a biological mixture using zeolite. However, there is no description regarding a specific purity of 1,3-propanediol. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,527,973 and 6,361,983 disclose a method of isolating 1,3-propanediol using distillation. However, distillation requires high energy and is inefficient in the removal of 1,2-propandiol having a boiling point of 187.6° C.
Therefore, there is a still demand for a method of efficiently isolating 1,3-propandiol with a high purity from a biological culture medium or other solutions containing glucose, glycerol and 1,2-propanediol.